


smells like summer and walks like rain

by purplevanity



Series: know your own happiness [1]
Category: Emma Approved, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: F/M, austen-heroes-are-best-bros-verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-09
Updated: 2014-03-09
Packaged: 2018-01-15 04:35:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1291555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplevanity/pseuds/purplevanity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I remember your girlfriend from business school. She was...something special."</p>
            </blockquote>





	smells like summer and walks like rain

He meets Caroline at a party.

It’s not even at one of those Emma-approved classy dinner parties with champagne glasses and girls in cocktail dresses – it’s one of his fraternity’s trashy house parties with the strobe lights and the big dance floor and John Dashwood being a killer DJ up there, and he’s leaning against the wall on his fourth solo cup of whatever’s-in-the-punch-bowl when she walks up to him.

“Not your kind of party, huh,” is the first the she says to him, and she’s _gorgeous_ , all long legs and teasing smirks and flippy dark hair.

Despite himself, he grins. “I guess it is now,” says the alcohol.

Caroline grins.

* * *

Emma shakes Caroline’s a  _bit_ too stiffly hand with a smile that’s a  _little_ too tight – but then he suspects Caroline doesn’t notice, he’s just learned to read her better, is all. “Emma Woodhouse,” she says, every inflection perfect.

Caroline laughs, a perfect coquettish little giggle reminiscent of her wealthy San Francisco upbringing. “Of course I know who you are,” says Caroline, all charm and sophistication. “Our sororities held a joint party last semester, remember? You were one of the organizers, and you did such a good job with the décor. And besides, Alex has told me _so_ much about you.”

Emma glances at him and relaxes a little at that. Caroline flashes a blinding smile. “It’s good to meet you,” she says. “And as much as I would _love_ to talk to you more, I have to meet my brother for lunch in a couple of minutes, and he’s rarely free and I _do_ love him a lot.”

Emma smiles back. “Of course. I’d do the same for my own sister.” She smiles at Alex, and he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. There is so much about Caroline he thinks people would disapprove of – her parents putting her in business school because they thought she had no direction in life compared to her future-doctor brother, how she can drink anybody under the table, and her dubious relationship with William Darcy. But there’s _Emma_ , who’s smiling at him and her and suddenly everything feels right again.

Caroline tosses her hair over her shoulder in one practiced motion. “We should get coffee sometime,” she says. She waves at Emma, turns, kisses Alex on the cheek, and walks away, looking every bit like a runway model all the while.

He sighs and sits back down. “She’s–”

“I like her,” Emma interrupts brightly, flashing him one of her winner smiles. She looks softer, younger, somehow, when compared to Caroline’s hard lines and straight hair and angular cheekbones. “She’s in your year, right?”

He nods and is about to say something else but Emma blazes on. “She’s just so – cool, and charming, and ambitious! Exactly the kind of person I thought you’d fall for. _Very_ Emma Approved.” She grins at him and punches him in the arm, and it’s so _Emma_ that it warms his heart.

“A lot like someone I know, actually,” he finds himself saying, and his heart breaks a little when her expression doesn’t change.

* * *

The weekend after he breaks up with Caroline he comes back home to see Emma in his room, sporting pink designer pajamas and fiddling with his TV.  “Hi, Alex!” she greets, bounding up to him, her ponytail swinging.

“Emma…”

“John let me in,” she says breezily at his questioning gaze. Brightly, she adds, “It’s movie night! I’ve already picked out your favorite action movies – you know, the ones whose faulty physics you just _love_ to criticize. And I threw in a couple of romcoms for me, your poor, long-suffering friend. The happy ones, of course, I just _know_ –”

He opens his mouth, closes it, and opens it again, but her smile is blinding and he can’t help but cave.

“All right,” he acquiesces, ruffling her hair. “Just let me take a shower.”

Emma beams. “I’ll fix up the popcorn.”

They’re in the middle of _Love Actually_ when Emma Thompson finds out Alan Rickman might have cheated on her. Emma’s head is nestled in the crook of Alex’s neck, and his arm has found a comfortable position on her opposite shoulder. She’s curled up and clutching a pillow to her chest, on the verge of tears even though this is probably her eighth rewatch.

“I’m a firm believer that they decide to brave on their marriage at the end,” she sighs, choking back a sob. “They’re great for each other.”

“Me too,” Alex says, and means it.

There’s a pregnant pause. Alex debates on what to say, but Emma interrupts him. “I thought you were good together,” she whispers.

Alex looks down at her, surprised. The sharp light from the screen hardens her features, makes her look older and wiser. She’s got a boy or two following her around as she always does – there’s always been a _boy_ , but never a _boyfriend_. “How’d you know, anyway?”

Emma smiles in that self-assured way she has, quirking one side of her mouth up and raising an eyebrow at him. “I’m Emma Woodhouse,” she says. “I know things.” She laughs at his dismayed look. “Gigi told me,” she admits, wriggling her toes. “She said I ought to know.”

He raises an eyebrow. Despite her being five years younger, he can see something of Emma in William’s sister: precocious, cheery, privileged, and perceptive “I would have told you.”

“I know you would.” Emma’s face falls. “But I really think you would have worked well.”

“We did,” he admits. “But I suppose we were too different in the end. She wanted different things. And in a way, I guess I’m all right with the fact that it didn’t work out.”

“Either way,” she says, “Caroline Lee really is something.” She turns her head back to the screen and grins. “Oh, Alex, _look_ , it’s when he’s about to propose to the Portuguese girl! Oh, I _love_ this theme!”

Alex can’t help but laugh, and he relaxes back onto the couch as Emma’s fingers curl around his wrist as she squeals excitedly. He’ll be back at Harvard in a few days and Emma’s graduation is next month, and they have a lot to look forward to and everything’s fine.

**Author's Note:**

> Emma could totally like Caroline. Together they can be a gorgeous hairflipping winking duo of fashionable awesomeness. (Although I could see why she would dislike her; Caroline-as-Augusta-Elton for the win).
> 
> Emma and Gigi (especially pre-Wickham) would be totally great friends, though. And 14-year-old Gigi totally shipped Knighthouse before Dizzie.


End file.
